Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, Chairman of Zenith Bank, Jim Ovia are among 15 Nigerian billionaires who lost a whopping N7991.1 billon in the third quarter of 2022 as stock prices tanked following the bearish performances of Nigeria equities market.

According to data compiled based on the direct and indirect holdings of the billionaires with stakes in listed companies in the Nigerian stock market, the aggregate wealth of these billionaires dropped from N6.74 trillion as of 30th June 2022 to N5.94 trillion by the end of September 2022.

Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote lost an aggregate of N441.66 billion from his direct and indirect stakes in Dangote Cement and Dangote Sugar Refinery.

The losses were a result of the decline in the unit share prices of both companies due to selloffs. Specifically, the share price of Dangote Cement dipped by 10.9 per cent to close the quarter at N245 from N275 per unit recorded as of 30th June 2022.

The Chairman of dual-listed BUA companies (BUA Foods and BUA Cement), Abdulsamadu Rabiu lost N336.82 billion from his holdings in the two companies in the third quarter of 2022.

The share price of BUA Cement dipped by 27.7 per cent in the period under review, losing N391.84 billion, which moderated a bit due to the 6 percent gain in BUA Foods, which fetched the billionaire a sum of N55.02 billion.

Founder of Zenith Bank, one of the largest commercial banks in Nigeria, Jim Ovia lost N8.63 billion from his direct and indirect stake in the bank as the company saw its share price dip by 7.8 per cent in the third quarter of 2022.

Femi Otedola lost an aggregate of N2.79 billion to the bearish movement in the stock price of FBN Holdings in the third quarter of the year.

The stock price of FBN Holdings declined by 12.1 per cent from N11.6 recorded as of 30th June 2022 to close the quarter at N10.2 per unit of share.

Mr. Tunde Odukale, the Managing Director and CEO of Leadway Assurance Company saw his stake in FBN Holdings decline by N2.21 billion in the third quarter of the year after the stock price of the company declined by 12.1 per cent in the review period.

Others whose investment declined during the period include: Herbert Wigwe – (Access Bank) who lost N1.82 billion; Mike Adenuga – N1.38 billion (Conoil, Julius Berger, and Sterling Bank); Tony Elumelu – N1.07 billion (UBA); Gbenga Oyebode – N1.02 billion (Okomu Oil); Wole Oshin – N780.5 million (Custodian Investment).

Others are: Eguasa P.A – N262.1 million (Okomu Oil); Olakunle Alake – N245.1 million (Dangote Cement and Dangote Sugar Refinery); Ifeoma Esiri – N154.4 million (Stanbic IBTC Holdings); Ebenezer Onyeagwu – N136.2 million (Zenith Bank) and Adaora Umeoji – N119.9 million (Zenith Bank).

The Nigerian stock market suffered from huge selloffs following interest rate hikes by major central banks around the world including the Central Bank of Nigeria as the equities market lost about N1.4 trillion in market capitalization.

The rising rate of inflation in the country also contributed to the downturn recorded in the market, forcing investors to reallocate their investment portfolios in a bid to hedge against inflation or at the very least, put their monies in safe-haven assets.